memeorandum: 24 Mind-Blowing Facts About Marijuana Production in America (Mother Jones)

11:25 AM ET, March 18, 2014

Top Items:

Romney: The Price of Failed Leadership — The President's failure to act when action was possible has diminished respect for the U.S. and made troubles worse.

Discussion: NBC News, Liberaland, CNN, Talking Points Memo, OnPolitics, PoliticusUSA, Hot Air, The Huffington Post, Mediaite and Post Politics

Tal Kopan / Politico:
Mitt Romney: President Obama, Hillary Clinton ‘failure’

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEightFiveThirtyEight:
What the Fox Knows — FiveThirtyEight is a data journalism organization.

Discussion: Althouse, New York Times, Prairie Weather, Towleroad News #gay, Marginal REVOLUTION, TVNewser, Politico, The Dish, FishbowlDC, Washington Monthly, Outside the Beltway, The Huffington Post and PandoDaily, more at Mediagazer »

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:

The kids are all right. ObamaCare's not so hot. — What's the matter with kids today? Dana Milbank, a grumpy old man at the Washington Post, would like to know. He's not literally talking about kids, but about voting age adults—the “army of 15 million voters under 30” who “swept …

Discussion: National Review, VodkaPundit and Althouse

Jonathan S. Tobin / Commentary Magazine:

March Madness? Fake ObamaCare Enrollment Numbers. — The administration is claiming a limited victory by saying the number of those enrolled in ObamaCare has now hit 5 million with two weeks to go until the March 31 deadline. If accurate, the number does represent a steep increase …

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Examiner, Hot Air and Politico

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
ObamaCare enrollments hit 5 million

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Marilyn Tavenner / HHS.gov:
Marketplace Enrollment Hits 5 Million Milestone

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Los Angeles Times, Fox News, El Paso Times, The Plum Line, Liberaland, bizjournals, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller and Talking Points Memo

Paige Lavender / The Huffington Post:
Obamacare Enrollment Reaches 5 Million

Discussion: Americans Against the … and Daily Kos

Joseph Curl / Washington Times:
We overhauled U.S. health care — to insure 4.2 million people?

Discussion: National Review, The Huffington Post, The Fact Checker and Rush Limbaugh

Josh Rogin / The Daily Beast:

Exclusive: Russia Will Sanction U.S. Senators — Putin is set to respond to Obama's sanctions of Russian officials with his own list. Several U.S. Senators and officials will be banned from visiting Russia, including Sen. Dick Durbin. — U.S. senators, congressmen and top Obama administration officials …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Hot Air, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, TruthRevolt.org, Bloomberg, Yahoo! News, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Dish, Liberaland, The Lead with Jake Tapper and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

ABC News:
Russian Deputy PM Laughs at Obama's Sanctions

Discussion: Firedoglake, Sky Dancing, Reuters, Scared Monkeys, KyivPost, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Wall Street Journal and Hinterland Gazette

CNN:
Putin notifies Russian parliament of Crimea's accession request

Discussion: Washington Post, National Review and Hot Air

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
U.S., E.U. announce sanctions following vote in Crimea

Discussion: Post Politics, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, The Fix, WorldViews and Power Line

Politico:

The rich strike back — NEW YORK — Just a few months ago, it looked like 2014 would be the year of the populist, with Democrats running on economic inequality, tea party Republicans bashing banks and newly minted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pledging to soak the rich with higher taxes.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Mediaite, The Week and alicublog

New York Times:

Defying West, Putin Signs Treaty to Annex Crimea — MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin claimed Crimea as a part of Russia on Tuesday, reversing what he described as a historical mistake made by the Soviet Union 60 years ago and brushing aside international condemnation that could leave Russia deeply isolated for years to come.

Discussion: Business Insider, The Monkey Cage, The Heritage Foundation, Mediaite, The Week and Daily Kos

New York Times:
Defying Sanctions, Putin Declares Crimea Independent

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Week, Truthdig, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CNN, Gawker and The Reaction

Alexei Druzhinin / ITAR-TASS: Putin signs decree recognising Crimea as sovereign and independent state

Mother Jones:

24 Mind-Blowing Facts About Marijuana Production in America — The only thing green about that bud is its chlorophyll. — You thought your pot came from environmentally conscious hippies? Think again. The way marijuana is grown in America, it turns out, is anything but sustainable and organic.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Taylor Marsh and Watts Up With That?

Bret Stephens / Wall Street Journal:

Stephens: How Obama ‘Gets Things Done’ — We need a president who rarely thinks and never speaks about how he looks in jeans. — Maybe Barack Obama should have given Zach Galifianakis an off-ramp, like the one he keeps trying to offer Vladimir Putin. Those were some pretty barbed lines …

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Gregg Easterbrook / New York Times:

Out of Control — WASHINGTON — WHEN mass murderers took over the cockpits of four American airliners on Sept. 11, 2001, one of the first things they did was turn off the transponders, so the planes would not register properly on civilian radar. — A few months later …

Juan Williams / The Hill:

GOP blinders on civil rights — Rep. Gregg Harper, a Republican from Mississippi's 3rd Congressional District, is standing near the blood stained driveway in Jackson where civil rights activist Medgar Evers was assassinated as he fought for black voting rights in 1963.

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:

A Campaign Inquiry in Utah Is the Watchdogs' Worst Case — It is the nightmare scenario for those who worry that the modern campaign finance system has opened up new frontiers of political corruption: A candidate colludes with wealthy corporate backers and promises to defend their interests if elected.

Bobby Jindal / New York Post:

Bill de Blasio's war for poverty — This year, many on the left are celebrating 50 years since President Lyndon Johnson declared his War on Poverty — an era that saw the creation of massive new government programs that liberals proclaimed would raise living standards for the poor.

Discussion: Post Politics

Christopher Baxter / New Jersey Online:

New bridge scandal emails bring in key Christie political strategist — TRENTON — Records released today by a legislative panel investigating the George Washington Bridge lane closings link Gov. Chris Christie's chief political strategist to discussions about fallout from the scandal …

Steve Kastenbaum / CNN:
New set of emails, texts on N.J. bridge scandal turned over to judge

Discussion: Politico and Associated Press

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

Fred Phelps Reportedly Ousted For Advocating ‘Kinder’ Westboro Baptist Church — The ailing founder of the Westboro Baptist Church was excommunicated for encouraging church members to be “kinder” to one another, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported Monday. — That approach didn't go over …

Discussion: Topeka Capital-Journal, susiemadrak.com, LGBTQ Nation and Joe. My. God.

Eleanor Clift / The Daily Beast:

White House Jumps Through Hoops to Increase Obamacare Enrollment — In an effort to reach their initial goal for registration prior to the looming March 31 deadline, Obama has enlisted NCAA athletes and coaches to play ball and create viral videos that encourage registration.

Kathy Finn / Reuters:

Former Louisiana Gov. Edwards, a convicted felon, to run for Congress — (Reuters) - Former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards, who had served an eight-year prison term on racketeering charges, said on Monday he will seek election to the U.S. Congress. — The 86-year-old Democrat …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler